3-9 is equivalent to 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9.
GENERAL REMARK.
The dash is frequently used to give prominence or emphasis to an expression.
EXAMPLES.
“In the quiet air, there was a sound of distant singing,—shepherd voices.”—Dickens.
“Wealth has its temptations,—so has power.”—Robertson.
“The poorest man may in his cottage bid defiance to all the force of the crown. It may be frail; its roof may shake; the wind may blow through it; the storms may enter, the rains may enter,—but the king of England cannot enter! all his forces dare not cross the threshold of the ruined tenement.”—Pitt.
Rule V. Parenthesis.—Two dashes are sometimes used instead of the usual marks of parenthesis.
EXAMPLES.
“A yellow claw—the very same that had clawed together so much wealth—poked itself out of the coach window, and dropt some copper coins upon the ground.”—Hawthorne.